dissipating. we just have a few clouds around the region this morning. off to a partly cloudy start and the aest of the day a few cloudh around. highs reaching near 90. weould get some afternoon rms coming in from de mid-afternoon into this evening. occasional thuers shower are possible. itnlo s %hancowe so it's not going to be ouwasht by any means.wa en tomorrow partly cloudy, hintgh is the i mid-80s. maybe a morning shower. an terhe pnps seom p passing afternoon thundershowers and again a smaller chance, only about 30%. rehuin g inmid into the rind pda fyary cloudy, just a small chance of an isolated thundershower with highs in the mid-80s and morning lows near 70. here's l aookt the weekend. saturday and ndayk, partly cloudy both da.ys e some passing rsthdeunhowers on suritday wdeh highs in the lowyo mid-80s. d u 8 u0s for sundayusma a sll c of s seome isolated thundersher both of those days and hnighs i the 8hs0s. morning lows near 70. it will stay ratheum hid b h at least not as hot after todayll

the way through the weekend coming up. so, joeny.en anthkfully it was just a small heat wave. we got to 97 yesterday afternoon. that was just one degree away from the record high of 98 set back in 1943 but it was hot and it was humid yesterday afternoon. the hottest day of summer. >> i don't think i could have told the difference between 97 and 105. >> whatever. it was up there. >> it was really hot. all right. thank you, tom. >> let's go back to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. any problems? >> relatively quiet so far this morning. good morning. take a live look for those of you coming in from the west along interstate 66, no early concerns from haymarket to the capital beltway. any overnight road work has been wrapped up. speaking of which, south of town to the woodrow wilson bridge, you'll find the lanes open there. over at the bay bridge, no concerns. quiet start on i-270. barbara and joe, back to you. >> got to like that. thank you, jerry. >> thank you. >> today, president obama will head to new hampshire for a town hall meeting on health care where protesters will be

waiting. >> as the health care debate rages on, the white house is expected to change its message. >> brooke hart is live on capitol hill now with a preview of what the president is expected to say later today. >> reporter: good morning. it could be boisterous today. this is the first of three health carey vents now on the president's schedule this week. it's a sign the white house sees progress in health care debate as a matter of taming the town hall. before leaving mexico, president obama acknowledged passions on health care are hot. >> i suspect that we're going to have continued vig ores on debate. >> reporter: could the president today face his own town hall fray? >> you can't trust them. >> reporter: this was virginia last night. it's not just democrats getting booed. south carolina republican bob englis is against the public-backed option but wants

reform. at his town hall he urged quit listening to right wing host glenn beck. worried it's losing the message war, the white house launched a new website, aides debunking rumg ors. >> one of the worst i've heard is that in some way this bill is going to force euthanasia. >> reporter: democrats do propose end of life counseling to seniors who want it. what about age being a factor in treatment? reform backers say insurers make those cost/benefit calls now. >> what this country desperately needs is a real honest discussion about what the problem is. we're going broke on health care. >> reporter: it's the cost of change that worries critics. >> people who are protesting are the taxpayers who are thinking, wait a minute. we have to pay for all this. maybe we need to slow down. >> reporter: his group, freedom works, is working to mobilize protesters to show up.

some 1,800 participate ants are expected in today'sown hall in new hampshire, more people outside. both the white house and reform critics see the event the same way -- as a high-profile opportunity to get their health care messages across. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> neighbors in one northern virginia community reacting a g after a manas mauled to death by his dogs. police were called to a home on plaza street in leesburg yesterday afternoon. officers found a horrible sight. they found the body of a 20-year-old man. beside him was a small pug mix dog that also appeared to have been mauled to death. neighbors say the family had dogs but never saw them running loosor out of control. >> so, i mean, i have nephews, nieces. it's kind of a scary thing. i don't know if i would necessarily blame it on 'pit bull. i think a lot has to do with the ownership. >> got to take special care if you're going to have that kind of an animal. it's just awful. >> the dogs were taken from the

home by the leesburg animal control officers. police have not released the name of the viimkf. and police haverrd atees two ople in connection with a doge attack on a woman spot spotsylvania county lt ekwe.a o n,so 32-year-old michaelye2-ld-c ba t, ndggett, wioe usofti jce a fibo ce a and filing a false police report. esan week we thaes manha suffered b being attacked g attained by a d tlioltwrousr.le police told us the dog wasllti s on the loose but now igstsig say they were lied to. thatd attacd manes was a lab mix and that it belonged to her son. >> metro is suspending all track work after a repairman wie a pl equipment. thtenor wker mhahel nas w was n killedt ae sday nig at the vienna station on the orange line. metro says he was acting as a spotter for a machine that spreads gravel between cross ties on the track. now metro's general manager has ordered what he's calling a safety standdown.

for the next three days, there will be no more traffic maintenance, but there will be additional safety checks at work sites. >> and out of that deadly midair crash out of new york city, divers are searching for the last victim in saturday's accident involving a small plane and a tourist helicopter. divers, who have returned to the hudson river this morning. yesterday they found one man from the plane's wreckage but they couldn't pull him out. nine people were killed in the crash. photos show the plane's wing sheared off. 911 calls record the moments after the crash. >> they're saying that there's a helicopter down in the water. >> two helicopters. just went down in the hudson. >> the helicopter went down into the water. the plane -- i'm not sure what happened to it. i can't see it from my window. >> three family members from pennsylvania, the helicopter pilot and five italian tourists were killed. the plane wreckage was found about 60 feet -- in about 60

feet of water in the middle of the river. ntsb investigators say it's going to take some time to gather it all for inspection. >> new today, a powerful earthquake rocks tokyo this morning. the 6.6 quake struck shortly after dawn. so far, there are no reports of any serious injuries. the quake rattled furniture, walls and shattered windows and roof tiles in older homes. japan stopped running its bullet trains as a precaution. local trains have been shut down for safety checks. nuclear reactors have been closed to check for damage. the quake comes as japan cleans up from a typhoon. residents living in mountainous areas are being told to be careful because of concerns about landslides. >> 5:07, 75 degrees right now. the anniversary of a deadly crash along the bay bridge is raising concerns about traffic safety. >> plus, mark your calendars for the release date of a new movie about pop star michael jackson. >> and an amusement park ride stopped dead in its tracks, leaving thrill-seekers stuck for hours.

en stlikecap u hi tshi t news t. ar >> t. p as 's participatingizza p zaiz stores a free ay re fe oc the catch? fke the catch?t us d brtndbl a aoe te birthday and be able toit. that's free cit hat's free chocolate lava us you cake at adath airint.y fg b airthday in august. leaves us out. >> yes, it sure does. >> tom, too. >> my daughter and my brother

will be lapping up that chocolate cake today probably. >> wow. >> although i don't know. go to a pizza place for a chocolate cake? >> i don't know. >> well, you know -- >> they know how to bake. >> i guess so. >> are you finished? >> i'm finished. >> okay, good. well, we'll do weather then. good morning. now 76 in washington, and we had some overnight passing thundershowers that have left the air rather humid. partly cloudy now. dew points in the upper 60s to near 70 so that's quite humid. over the last sings hours we've seen the last of the thundershowers dissipating, just a few clouds coming through now. we'll have some sunshine in and out today with highs reaching the low 90s. not as hot as yesterday. and a small chance of a passing afternoon thundershower as well as overnight tonight and perhaps off and on wednesday. a small chance. highs in the mid-80s tomorrow so cooler weather moving in. it will remain cooler as we get into thursday and friday. highs in the mid-80s both days, morning lows near 70. a small chance of a passing thundershower. remaining quite humid all the way into the weekend.

saturday maybe some thundershowers, a small chance sunday and monday, highs in the 80s each day. now let's traffic for this tuesday. how's it looking? >> doing pretty well so far. good morning, everyone. let's head to the american legion bridge where traffic continues to move freely. the outer loop of the beltway looks good as does the inner loop. elsewhere checking reports in maryland of an accident 95 southbound near old gun powder road in prince george's county. police are headed over there. other than that, 66, the toll road looking all right so far. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> thank you very much, jerry. 5:12, 76 degrees. trapped. thor terrifying turn of events that left dozens of thrill-seekers hanging in the balance. >> plus, her olympic size heart and her struggle to survive. next at 5:15, loved ones are traveling from near and far to be at the bedside of eunice shriver.

our time is 5:14. updating the top store this the news for today, the president is hitting the road to sell his health care reformplan. this afternoon he's holding a town hall meeting in portsmouth, new hampshire. the president is trying to refute what he says are myths and misconceptions about his plan.

the white house yesterday announced the launch of a new website that it says will help people better understand the issue and help people separate fact from fiction. >> divers will return to the hudson river this morning. they are hoping to find the last victim in saturday's crash between a small plane and a sight-seeing helicopter. nine people were killed. yesterday, the plane's wreckage was discovered 60 feet below water in the middle of the river. >> six people in china have been killed by a typhoon but the death toll is expected to rise. so far, about 80 people have died across the asia pacific area because of typhoon morakot. in southern taiwan, rescuers are now looking for hundreds of residents in one mountainous village where hundreds of people are listed as missing. >> this morning, eunice kennedy shriver's condition is described as minute by minute. family members are by her bedside at a hospital in cape cod, and california governor arnold schwarzenegger flew there late last night. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us from the special olympics headquarters in northwest with more now. good morning, kimberly.

>> reporter: good morning, barbara. you know well that eunice kennedy shriver was not only the founder of special olympics, she was the inspiration behind this place and still is. she is listed, as we know, in critical condition in a hospital in cape cod. she's not here in washington at the moment. all her family members have been called to her side. her children, her grandchildren, we are told, are all there. her daughter, maria shriver, as well as her husband, arnold schwarzenegger, all there in cape cod as well. the 88-year-old sister of president john f. kennedy has been weakened over the years by a series of strokes. washingtonians, though, are now recalling the or engines of special olympics which actually began as a summer camp and how eunice kennedy shriver inspired them then and now. now, recently the special olympics games, there was a moment of silence that the

athletes held for her. afterward, the athletes cheered themselves on. and the president and ceo of the special olympics, bob johnson, says eunice kennedy shriver is a hero to all those children just as she is to me. reporting live in downtown washington, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, kimberly. clinical tests are now under way for the swine flu vaccine. volunteers in baltimore yesterday were among the first in the country to test it out. the study is designed to test the safety, effectiveness and dosage of the vaccine. the study involves far more than a single shot. volunteers will be back in a few weeks for another shot. >> chilling new details surrounding that deadly shooting inside a pennsylvania gymnasium. it turns out that the alleged gunman was questioned by police just days earlier. investigators talked with george sodini on july 30th after a man fitting his description was seen holding what appeared to be a hand grenade on a city bus. when police could not positively

determine that it was him with the grenade, they let him go. police say so din i then walked in. ln. fitness center near pittsburgh last tuesday and shot and killed three women and then himself. after the killings, police found writings in sodini's residents referring to that hand grenade incident. >> some thrill-seekers g more adventure than they bargained for after they were stranded on a roller coaster for more than four years. it happened yesterday at the great america theme park in santa clara. the riders were on the roller coaster when it came to a stop, leaving them 80 feet off the ground. rescue crews had to use a cherry picker to rescue about two dozen people. no one was injured. investigators say the roll every coaster had a mechanical problem. >> with an eight-game winning streak, everything has been going great important nats as of late but now the team is getting some very bad news. >> one of their promising young pitchers will beside lined for the year.

lindsay czarniak has your sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody. your sports minute on this tuesday morning begins with bad news for the nationals. nationals rookie right-hander jordan zimmerman is expected to have season-ending surgery on his right elbow. the 23-year-old is considered one of the building blocks of the nationals franchise. he will beside lined at least a year with tommy john surgery to repair that torn ligament. orioles hosting the athletics. mark ell had a career night with five hits and four rbis. oakland wins big. the a's have won five straight games against the orioles. to redskins news. they're back on the field preparing for thursday's preseason game against the ravens. the redskins are beginning to see some signs of relief, not really from the heat but from the injury bug. wide receiver devin thomas is making progress after being out of practice with a sore hamstring. also, guard randy thomas, who

had been sidelined with a sore knee, was also back on the field yeerday. in nascar, tony stewart gets his third win of the season, winning at watkins glen. stewart's seventh road course victory, the sixth at the road course. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> when it gets as hot as it was yesterday, anything that resembles water is a huge draw. fountains are no exception. crowds cooled down near the tidal basin and monument fountains, but rangers have a request. they say you shouldn't throw anything into the fountains, coins especially can cause a lot of damage. >> it only makes sense to really respect the monument like this and to treat it with respect and dignity that, you know, it's designed to portray. >> it may seem like common sense, but park rangers say do the fountains a favor. don't throw coins, don't wade in the water and don't drink the water. >> 5:21 almost is our time right now. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we're going to check in with

meteorologist tom kierein up in storm center 4. tom, good morning again. >> hey, barbara, joe, good morning. we had a few passing overnight thundershowers. those have dissipated. partly cloudy now. temperatures are in the low and mid-70s so a pleasant start to this 11th day of august. now 76 in washington. montgomery, fairfax and prince george's county in the low 70s. these are the dew points. in the upper 60s to near 70. that is humid. it will stay humid today. those thundershowers have dissipated. partly cloudy around the region now. we'll have afternoon highs climbing, maybe briefly touching the low 90s. a lot cooler tod than yesterday. a small chance of a passing isolated afternoon or evening thundershower as well as tomorrow. afternoon highs cooler on wednesday, in the mid-80s. thursday and friday, partly cloudy. still rather humid. highs mid-80s. a small chance of an isolated thundershower. there's a greater chance of maybe a few passing thundershowers saturday, then partly cloudy sunday and monday. highs in the 80s each day over the weekend into monday. how's the traffic now? >> doing pretty well. one incident of note. first, show you coming in from the north along i-270

everything's beautiful so far from frederick to rockville with no early incidents. in maryland on i-95 southbound near old gun powder road, word of an accident, possibly a car fire. the fire department's headed over there. to and beyond route 12 on 295, look out. other than that, wilson bridge okay. 395 to downtown, so far, so good. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> our time 5:22, 76 degrees. renewed traffic concerns following a deadly crash along the bay bridge. >> what the coroner is now saying about the autopsy of pop star michael jackson. >> then, why one of the nation's it major automakers is teaming up with a popular website. >> and here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> in this difficult age of real estate, consumers ask if it's time to refinance? mon"money" magazine says maybe. first, you'll need a credit score of 740 or higher, and at least 20% equity. so get a copy of your credit

score from equifax, shop around for the lowest mortgage rate and put your information into a refinancing worksheet tool found on many financial websites. i'm liz crenshaw, "on the money."

philip markoff's case returns to a massachusetts courtroom for another pretrial

hearing. the so-called craigslist killer faces several charges connected to the mur at tder of one woman the armed robbery of another in boston hotels. both women had advertised erotic services on the website craigslist. >> a los angeles county correspond on ore's office is done investigating what killed michael jackson but details have not yet been released. meanwhi meanwhile, the singer's final days are being turned into a movie. a judge approved a major deal between the estate, concert promoter and columbia pictures. the movie will include pictures of jackson's rehearsals and videos that were going to be part of the tour. a final cut is due by late october. >> our time now is 5:26, 76 degrees. another day of heat and humidity across washington. how meteorologist -- how hot meteorologist tom kierein says it will get today. >> also, the tragic turn of event that's police say led to the death of a man and his dog.

>> what crews are hoping to fine

dog attack. what police say happened that resulted in the death of a man and his dog. >> reality check. president obama's harsh warnings surrounding the controversial issue of health care. >> point, click, buy. the major automaker teaming up with a popular website offering some deep discounts.

good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, this 11th day of august, 2009. >> and i'm barbara harrison. we're glad you're with us this morning. meteorologist tom kierein joins us in storm center 4 with a look at today's forecast. good morning, tom. >> good morning. still humid but thankfully not going to be as hot today as it was yesterday. we soared to 97 at reagan national. missed the record by one degree. right now 76 at reagan national. it's in the low 70s in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. and as we take a look at the dew points, they're around 70 now so that is still quite steamy, although not quite as humid out in the mountains. their temperatures there in the mid-60s. on the eastern shore it's a steamy start there. temperatures there in the low 70s. over the last six hours we've seen the last of the thundershowers dissipating that we had overnight, and for the rest of the day, afternoon highs climbing to the low 90s briefly. so it's going to be a cooler

day. there's also a chance of a passing isolated afternoon or evening thundershower. it's only about a 30% chance. otherwise, partly cloudy, rather hot and humid today. then cooler on wednesday, thursday and friday. about a 30% chance of a passing shower tomorrow morning or an afternoon thundershower on thursday. a small chance of that thursday and friday. a look at the weekend in ten minutes. barbara and joe? >> thank you very much. >> let's head out to the roads, see what jerry has to tell us about the commute this morning. how's it looking? >> looking pretty good. we do have a couple of incidents, first, south of town to the wilson bridge, no worries. both the inner loop and outer loop out to yyox hen hill a kwe start. b-w parkway southbound near route 32, initial reports of an accident. vehicle fire reported to be in southbound lanes of i-95 near old gun powder road before you get to the beltway. down from 198 toward 212 headed for the beltway, heads-up for

that. back to you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. in the news ismorning, a horrible attack in northern virginia. a man found mauled to death. his dogs are blamed for killing him and another dog. >> it happened at a home in leesburg. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live with our top story this morning. megan? >> reporter: good morning. it was about 2:00 monday afternoon when the grisly discovery was made. a 20-year-old man found mauled to death inside his home on plaza street in leesburg. also dead inside that house, a small dog described as a pug mix. also apparently mauled by dogs. then found running through the house freely, two pit bulls. the pit bulls have been taken to the leesburg animal control center and their fate will be determined later. it is unclear if the man who was killed is the owner of those dogs, the pit bulls found inside the home. i should also mention that also inside was found a cocker spaniel, another dog, but that dog was inside a cage. now, investigators are trying to

sort out exactly what happened here. one of the possibilities they're looking into is that this started as a dogfight between the larger dogs and the smaller dog and escalated from there, but they're really still not very clear on the facts of what happened. police were brought to the home to check on the welfare of the person who lived here. that's when the 20-year-old man was discovered inside the home. it's unclear whether or not the man owns the dogs or any of the dogs or some of the dogs. they're still trying to sort all of that out. more coming up in the next half hour. back to you all. >> thank you, megan. >> thank you. >> metro is suspending all track rman was hit t rep a piece rie pf o of equipmen l mi sund nig aeth vienna nay ahteiga station on the orae line. metro says he was acting as a spotter for a machine that spreads gravel between cross ties on the track. now metro's general manager has ordered what he's calling a safety standdown. for the next three days, there will be no more track maintenance but additional safety checks at work sites.

>> the reason for this standdown is to have each of our employees go through the proper safety procedures for our managers to look at all of our safety procedures to ensure that they're updated and meet the needs of what we're doing in the field today. >> metro hasot figured out how the accident happened yet, but investigators are looking into whether there was an equipment malfunction or if a worker in the group was distracted. >> happening today, president obama is retooling his message about overhauling the nation's health care system, and he will likely unveil it today at a town hall meeting in new hampshire. the new pitch is aimed at people who already have health insurance. the health care issue has sparked heated debates around the country. president obama has called the debates healthy but opponents say it's a sign of widespread public dissatisfaction with his ideas. >> what this country desperately needs is a real, honest

discussion about what the problem is. we're going broke on health care. >> the people who are protesting are the taxpayers who are thinking, wait a minute, we have to pay for all this. maybe we need to slow down. >> president obama says he's confident that despite the heated debate, reform will take place this fall. >> today, divers are about to resume their search for the ninth victim of that deadly midair crash near manhattan. a helicopter collided with a plane on saturday. both plunged into the hudson river. now we're hearing the 911 calls from witnesses who saw the horrific crash. >> they're saying that there's a helicopter down in the water? >> two helicopters just went down in the hudson. >> the helicopter went down into the water. e plane, i'm not sure what happened to it. i can't see it from my window. >> investigators haven't figured out what caused the crash. >> well, a year after the deadly crash on the chesapeake bay bridge that sent a tractor-trailer truck flying off

the span, into the bay, travel experts say there are still not enough safety measures in place. the truck's driver was killed when another driver, who allegedly fell asleep at the wheel, forced his tractor-trailer to crash through the bridge's concrete barrier and fall into the water below. since then, crews have been reinforcing the barriers along the sides. aaa has applauded those improvements, but the travel club is now calling on the maryland transportation officials to install a barrier that separates two-way traffic as an added safety measure. >> our time is now 5:36. the temperature 76 degrees. the new and easy way to buy certain vehicles all at the click of a mouse. plus the amazing story of survival of a dog thrown in the trash and left for dead. >> and how the pope is coming to the aid of jfk's sister who remains hospitalized in critical condition.

how would you like?ayod uhien tketo?ay t listen up to this news 4 bargain blast. >> parcingtipati >> participating domi's pizza stores are g atolavoc le fae chocataveola l chru ncca.olke the catch, you havth birthday and be able to 'sat fgure that's fa av lchcr chcre cun aakt chmidono's if yo birthdays indo iaugust. >> no anchovies, please. time to take a look at traffic and weather together. let's go to tom kierein in storm center 4. >> good morning. well, thankfully today it will not be as hot as yesterday. we soared into the upper0s,

even near 100 degrees in some many locations. the heat index was brutal. much more pleasant this morning. we're in the low and mid-70s all around the region. 76 in washington. the dew points are still rather steamy. in the upper 60s to around 70. that's quite humid. we do have a few passing overnight thundershowers. those have dissipated. now we're off to a partly cloudy start. a partly cloudy day. won't be quite as hot. up into the low 90s briefly by mid-afternoon. there's a small chance of a passing isolated afternoon thundershower as well as this evening. then maybe tomorrow morning a passing shower or an afternoon thundershower. it's a small chance again on wednesday but thankfully cooler tomorrow. highs in the mid-80s. mid-80s again on thursday and friday. still remaining quite humid all the way into the weekend. partly cloudy both thursday and friday, just a very small chance of an isolated thundershower those days. then on saturday a greater chance of maybe some passing mainly afternoon thundershowers with highs in the 80s. sunday and monday, partly cloudy, still in the 80s so this heat wave was short-lived

thankfully. i'll be back in ten minute was another update. now let's check traffic. jerry, how's it looking at this hour? >> picking up some early morning volume out there along 395 as you head north from the beltway through landmark, shirlington, headed for downtown, no incidents to report. hov lanes smooth sailing. southbound 395 headed for the beltway also looking pretty good. check your speeds and see how we're doing out there this morning. so far, so good along 66 between gainesville and centreville. ten minutes from centreville to the beltway 15 minutes. traveling in the beltway to the roosevelt bridge, 17 minutes. so far, so good. back to you. >> thanks. our time right now is 5:41. a warning for parents about an important vaccine some kids need before heading back to school. >> plus, buying a car with a simple click of a mouse. next at 5:45, why one of the nation's major automakers is teaming up with a popular website.

our time now 5:43. updating our top stories of the morning. a man is dead after two dogs apparently mauled him to death inside his leesburg home. police found the body of 20-year-old man on plaza street yesterday afternoon. officers think he died while trying to protect a smaller dog that was also mauled to death. president obama is taking his push for health care reform on the road again today. he's hosting a town hall meeting in new hampshire. republicans say the heated debate over the issue shows that americans are unhappy with the president's ideas. divers have found another body in the wreckage of a small plane that collided with a helicopter over the hudson. nine people were killed in saturday's crash. one victim is still missing. >> well, today general motors is re-inventing itself and selling cars on ebay. this new experiment is aimed at giving consumers a new and easier way to buy gm vehicles. leanne gregg has the story.

>> reporter: general motors is teemging up with ebay to make purchasing a vehicle as easy as click and buy. the promotional house buyers to place online bids for more than 200 from california gm dealers through gm.ebay.com. >> from time to time. >> reporter: with new ceo fritz henderson at the helm, it's part of the plan to broaden appeal to young buyers by expanding showrooms from parking lots to laptops. >> we are well on our way to succeed. >> reporter: speaking of out with the old, in with the new, the ebay site will also let customers know if their current vehicle will qualify for the government incentive program to get big gas guzzlers off the roads. >> bye, old girl. >> reporter: last week, the senate voted to give the cash for clunkers program another $2 billion because it's been such a

smashing success. >> almost two to one under our survey, people have been buying these more fuel-efficient cars and have been getting the $4,500 voucher. >> reporter: so many trading in their clunkers to buy newer, more fuel-efficient cars that dealers worry they'll run out of certain models. under the program, the clunkers can't be resold whole. e engine must be destroyed. >> we'reocked up. >> reporter: part of the shift toward more energy-efficient cars. and easier ways to buy them. leanne gregg, nbc news. >> well, the trial gm ebay site will be available through the 8th of september. >> if you're looking to purchase your first home in prince george's county, you could get tens of thousands of dollars in assistance. the county has started the neighborhood stabilization program. it provides up to $20,000 in assistance to first-time home buyers to purchase foreclosed properties.

the homes can be used for down appointment payments, closing costs or other necessary repairs. >> when you buy a foreclosed property you're getting it in as-is condition. it depends on who you are. some people can handle that and some people can't but it's certainly a terrific opportunity for those who can. >> the neighborhood stabilization program has nearly $13 million in federal funds. those participating in the program must agree to live in the home for ten years. >> veterinarians in the district are nursing a dog back to health after it was viciously attacked. now, even more disturbing is that it was duct-taped inside a trash bag and then thrown into a dumpster. news 4's keith garvin has the story. >> reporter: her face tells the story. a canine on the mend after a brutal attack left her clinging to life in a dumpster the dog, now known as trooper, discarded like a piece of trash. >> i saw him sticking out right there, out of that trash can there. >> reporter: trooper was found

friday outside an apartment complex in southeast. when leroy shaw robinson approached this dumpster, he heard thrashing and the sound of whimpering. >> the dog was in the trash can. i don't know if he was dead or alive. come to find out, he was moving. >> reporter: robinson immediately called the humane society's hot line. dispatched was enforcement officer eve russell. when she arrived, she found a dog wrapped in a trash bag that was dungt-taped to her body. >> i was in a bit of disbelief when the dispatcher was describing to me what the witnesses were seeing. when i got to the scene it was even worse than i had been expecting. i was shocked. it was probably one of the most pathetic things i've ever seen. >> reporter: seeing signs of life, russell raced the dogo friendship hospitals for animals. the dog needed surgery right away. after several stitches and a lot of attention, trooper named by officer russell for her spirit, is healing well. >> her most extensive injury was a laceration over her eye that was about that long.

it was very, very deep, down to the bone. luckily, doesn't look like the globe was involved at all. >> reporter: the goal is to rehabilitate trooper after she heals, then place her in a loving home. despite the fact that someone tried to throw her away, we could see this was a warm, sweet and loving animal. but doctors say underneath that calm demeanor is the spirit of a survivor. >> to have gone through what she's gone through and be as loving and affectionate as she is, she's obviously a wonderful dog. and i think that that will help her lot with her healing. >> reporter: keith garvin, news 4. >> well, doctors say that trooper's healing is a day by day process and she could need at least one more surgery. the washington humane society is now offering a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible. >> the pope is praying for eunice kennedy shriver as she remains in critical condition at a massachusetts hospital. shriver is 88 years old. she's the sister of former

president john f. kennedy and she is the one who organized the first special olympics back in 1968. the vatican ambassador to the united states has released a letter saying the pontiff is, "holding close to his heart eunice as she is called home to eternal life." our time right now is 5:50, 76 degrees the temperature. >> approaching 5:51. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. tom joins us here in the studio. >> yesterday was a brutally hot day. i was standing out in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the heat and listening and didn't hear a sound. no crickets, no cicadas, no birds flying, no butterflies flying. nothing was moving except probably some joggers. >> right. >> but here, yes, indeed, we had our hottest s orum me s ummer or.y b one degree.o 97t anetp tl now it's much more pleasant. overnight we've cooled down. in the low and mid-70s. now 76 in washington. it's in the low 70s in

montgomery, fairfax, prince eorge's counties. all my weather watchers reporting from the rural areas in maryland and virginia reporting low 70s now under a partly cloudy sky. these are the current dew points. whenever you see the dew points in the upper 60s to near 70 that is quite humid. dew point in washington is at 70. temperatures on the eastern shore are steamy there. they're in the low 70s this morning as well as southeast of virginia. around the outer banks and through the carolinas, mid and upper 70s this morning. it's fresh and cool out in the mountains. they're in the mid-60s with lower humidity there so a pleasant place to be in the mountains if you want to escape the heat. again today it will get rather hot but not as hot as yesterday. this morning we're starting off just a few clouds around after a few passing overnight thundershowers. if you're traveling today, well, there may again be some flight delays from florida through the gulf coast, tennessee valley, around the mid-atlantic states, including our region as well as up toward new england. but elsewhere shouldn't have any travel problems through much of the midwest and the west. a little bit of rain again in the pacific northwest. for us here what we've got this

cool front that is now approaching the ohio valley. out ahead of that, a few scattered light showers that are just beginning to develop around lake erie, down through ohio and southern indiana ahead of that front. out ahead of it we still have this persistentumid flow out of the southwest tapping humidity coming in off the gulf of mexico. as this front pushes through by late afternoon and this evening it may trigger some isolated thoufrs. i don't anticipate any severe storms as this does move ug rothh. between now and then we'll havr some sunshine this morning. by 00 near 80. by noontim werho sbeuld in the d-80 s. 6:18.se this morning is at then during th afternoon, some clouds building at t fharont approaches oks le maybe a chance of showers earlier out ihe tay mountains, perhaps around noontime. then around theetrero aa perhaps around 3:00 p.m., into 6:00 p.m. or so, an isolated passing thundershower is possible. looks like it lle the type with brie heavy downpour, maybe a few claps of thunder. but don't anticipate aro stng, damaging winds like you might

expect as a cool front comes in because this fnt is very weak as it is going to be coming on through. sunset at 8:08. by then we'll be down into low 80s. still a chance of an isolated passing thundershower this evening. then cloudy as we start off tomorrow morning. during the day tomorrow should be partlylo cudnd a c cooler ul anly. afternoon highs in the mid-80s. there'la lysmal chance of a morning shower as well as perhaps a passing afternoon undershower on wednesday. then it's going to stay quite dmint io thursday and friday but thankfully not as hot. ht should be in the mid-80s bhot those days, thursday and friday, with morning lows near o. there is a smaha cnce of an isolated thundershower on thursday and friday. now here's a look at the nc weekend. do you have some plans? well, on saturday be pr eped. there may be some si pasng thundershowers. otherwise, partly sunny with highs in the 80s and still rather humid through theti weekend. m ah smalleray a chance of any isolated

thundershowers as it will just pbe ptly cloudy. g inrnlows near 70in. s like we'll hit the mid-80slo on sunday. on monday it may be back i ont o the mid ands i i about the average high for this time of year. average high now is 86. avere 69low . the daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter as well. so our average temperatures are beginning to drop a bit so that does diminish our chances for any strong storms to develop as well. still the tropics are quiet. don't have any tropical storms or hurricanes brewing in the atlantic at all. this is hopefully going to be a calmer season. >> yeah. we are halfway through the season now? >> no, just starting now. >> oh, it is? >> it peaks in early september. >> i see. >> that's when we normally see -- september, october, november, those are the big -- >> usually early september. >> i see. okay then. thank you, tom. >> thanks very much, tom. let's go back to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. take a gander, see how your commute is going. downtown by way of the sousa

bridge, very light volume of traffic. so far inbound and outbound on pennsylvania avenue doing fine. now in virginia, east on 66 out in gainesville getting the initial reports of an accident. authorities are headed over there. had an accident, b-w parkway, route 32. so far, so good both ways at the wilson bridge. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks. in news for your health this morning, staing this year, sixth grade girls in the d.c. school system will be required to get the vaccine for hpv, human pap home a virus. that virus is often a contributing cause to girls and women contracting cervical cancer. one way of contracting hpv is through sexual contact and that's one reason some parents are concerned about the schools mandating the vaccine, but health officials say getting the vaccine before girls become six whamly active is important. >> many teens, half of teens, will begin sexual activity by high school. and this vaccine is most effective if we can build the antibodies before there's any

sexual contact or sexual exposure. >> parents are concerned about this relatively new vaccine. we also know there's been good inrmation behind it. >> the vaccine, gardasil, is given in three doses over six months. parent whose do not want their daughters to receive the vaccine can opt out. >> house democrats say they do not need new jets to ferry them around after all. democratic leaders wanted four passenger jets to fly around senior government officials. two would be the c-37, which is the military equivalent of the gulf stream 550 aircraft. democrats added hundreds of millions of dollars to the air force's budget to pay for it, even though the pentagon didn't request the money. now democratic leaders say that they will drop thelan to buy the new aircraft if the pentagon doesn't want them. >> to the money crisis now alo h aow look at how foreign markets are doing today. it was a good day for the asian markets. china's hang seng and japan's nikkei indices were both up just

under 1% overnight. to wall street now, where futures are pointing to a positive opening today, even some late-day losses yesterday. the dow closed at 9337.95. the nasdaq closed at 1992.24. >> well, we are finding jobs 4 you. saoworbrd n institute is looking for a career services br adviser to work in landover. the school provides training in fms adults.prorra fth careerth services adviser slp graduates find jsobnds a also provides resum ad elanp practice with interviewing skillsan for more jobs,isit nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> still ahead this morning, what caused the secretary of state to lash out. was her outburst lost in translation? >> ready for some relief from all that heat? meteorologist tom kierein's going to let us know when it might be here. we'll have your weather and traffic together on the 1s. stay with us.

deadly fight. a 20-year-old leesburg man gets caught in the middle of a fight between two dogs and dies. >> tn hall tensions. we've seen rowdy and boisterous health care town hall meetings across the country, and today the president will host one of his own. >> good morning and thanks for waking up with us this morning for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, this 11th day of august 2009. >> we're taking a live look outside. beautiful morning out there right now. pleasant temperatures, 76 degrees. >> unpleasant humidity, though. when it get that's hot and

humid, anything that remotely resembles water is a huge draw. fountains are no exception. crowds cooled down yesterday near the tidal basin and monument fountains, but park rangers have a request -- do not throw anything into them, including yourself. >> treat it with the respect and dignity that it's designed to portray. >> it may seem like common sense, but park rangers say do the mountaifountains a favor. don't throw coins, don't wade in the water and certainly don't drink the water. >> well, let's find out how tom kierein kept cool yesterday in all that heat. what did you do? >> i was inside, not moving a muscle. i just -- i tell you, it was brutal. i can't take the heat. some people can, but i can't. it was certainly unusually hot for this summer yestday, and that's it, though. we're on a cooldown pattern for today, om gngreo tach briefly o the low 90s thankfully by mid-afternoon. a cool front coming through. as it does drift in by temid-af rnoon it may trigger some passing thundershowers.

may linger into this evening. a few passing thundershowers possible until around midnight. then by dawn should be mostly cloudy as we start off wednesday. tomorrow, partly cloudy, afternoon sghd- cmbtoin cing the mid-80s so somein cle r weather moving in tomorrow and we'll be in place all the way into the weekend, i'm happy to say. still remaining quite humid into the weekend. there's a small cncfe o a morning shower tomorrow, maybe an afternoon thundershower. then partly cloudy thursday and friday. morning lows near 70. tehirnn ooghs mid-80s. still humid and a small chance of an isolated thundershower both thuydan a a friday afternoons. a oke adat th weekend. i'll show you that coming up in ten minutes at 6:11. stay tuned. >> thanks, tom. >> let's take a look at the roadways. here's jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. jerry, any problems on this tuesday? >> things getting a little bit bus any a couple of spots, indeed. good morning. we'll start on the beltway south of town. outer loop of van dorn street not bad. just down the road a little bit word of an accident, outer loop near telegraph road. police are headed over there.

that in addition to the accident 66 in gainesville, so heads-up for that. elsewhere, che things out along i-270 from frederick to hyattstown continuing on down to the split, no worries. beltway north of town i-95 to 355 looking pretty good so far. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. tledew today,n tokyo wasat r a powerful earthquake this morning. the 6.6 quake struck shortly after dawn. so far, there no reports of any serious injuries. the quake rattled furniture, walls, shattered windows and roof tiles in older homes. japan stopped running its bullet trains as a precaution. local trains have been shut down for safety checks. nuclear reactors have been closed to check for damage. the quake comes as japan cleans up from a typhoon recently. and breaking news just coming in about that typhoon. taiwan television says a chopper crew of three is dead after it crashed during a rescue mission. they were part of a team rescuing people from a remote

village in taiwan that were buried by a mudslide. thorities say there are 400 victims of that landslide. 150 have been rescued. >> now to a horrifying attack in northern virginia. one man is dead afterwo h tis h. policeerlee cald to a home on c saee in safoornten.nafternoon.t lh dog,oth t thewoeath gs. two gs.do nenews 4's megan mcgrath joins live from leesburg this morning with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: well, good morning. a relative became concerned when they were trying to reach someone inside the house on plaza street and couldn't get ahold of that individual. they called police. police came out to the home to check things out. that's when they made the grim discovery. that was about 2:00 yesterday afternoon. they found a 20-year-old man dead inside the home, apparently mauled to death by dogs. also found, a smaller dog, a pug mix, also apparently mauled. then roaming through the home

were two pit bulls. those pit bulls have been taken to the leesburg animal control center. their fate will be determined later. it's unclear if the man who was killed is the owner of the dogs. also found at the home was another animal, a cocker spaniel who was inside a cage and unharmed. now, residents say they knew that the people in the home had animals but they had never seen any problems, never seen the dogs running around. >> i have nephews. i have nieces. kind of a scary thing. i don't know if i would necessarily blame itn the pit bull. i think a lot has to do with the ownership. >> my brother has a pit bull, you know. he says you've got to take special care if you're going to have that kind of an animal. it's just awful. >> investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened. one of the things they're looking at is there may have been some sort of a fight between the two larger dogs and a smaller dog, but again, they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. they have not released the name of the man who was killed.

joe, back to you. >> megan mcgrath reporting live. thanks very much, megan. >> happening today, president obama is retooling his message about overhauling the nation's health care system. and he'll likely unveil it today at a town hall meeting in new hampshire. the new pitch is aimed at people who already have health insurance. the health care issue has sparked heated debates across the country. president obama has called the debates healthy, but opponents say it's a sign of widespread public dissatisfaction with the president's ideas. >> what this country desperately needs is a real, honest discussion about what the problem is. we're going broke on health care. >> the people who are protesting are the taxpayers who are thinking, wait a minute. we have to pay for all this. maybe we need to slow down. >> president obama said he's confident that despite the heated debate reform will happen this fall. things definitely got testy at one health care town hall in virginia.

democratic congressman hosted it in rubbingersville hoping to get feedback from his constituents. opponents of the reform plan showed up with signs. they shouted not booed at times but things never got out of hand completely. he says the town hall was terrific. >> well, a few dozen people in maryland are among the first to get the new swine flu evacuation een. why police questioned the gunman responsible for last week's pennsylvania health club shooting days before the deadly rampage and then let him go. >> the roller coaster ride that wouldn't end. thrill-seers get shour

we have some breaking news to report to you this morning. a statement from the shriver family in hyannisport, massachusetts, is the family is announcing the death of eunice shriver. she died early this morning. here's the statement. it's hard for us to believe the amazing eunice kennedy shriver went home to god this morning at 2:00 a.m. again, this is from the family. "she was the light of our lives. a mother, wife, andmother, sister and aunt who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love andervice to others. for each of us, she often seemed to stop time itsf to run another special olympics game, to visit us in our homes, to attend to her own mother, her

sisters and brothers, to sail, to laugh and to serve friends. how did she do it all? ". >> many will miss her and many of us had the opportunity to know her through her work and not just special olympics but a lot of things she did locally. she will be greatly missed by many of us here. >> indeed. the sister of john f. kennedy, eunice kennedy shriver, the wife of sergeant shriver, who was the first leader of the peace corps and, of course, the mother of maria shriver, well-known to viewers of nbc and currently the wife of arnold schwarzenegger, of course, out in california. >> right. we're going to check our weather now. let's go to tom kierein in storm center 4. tom, good morning again. >> good morning. now at 6:11 as we look across the potomac toward the eastern horizon we see the sunrise now under way. the sun will be coming up at 6:18 this morning, in seven minutes. up in a mostly clear sky. temperature 75 in washington. it's quite humid but it's a pleasant morning certainly compared to what we had yesterdayfternoon when we were

in the upper 90s. mid and upper 70s around the region now. the dew points are in the upper 60s, low 70s. that is quite humid. afternoon highs climbing to the low 90s briefly. there's a chance of a passing isolated afternoon thundershower as well as tonight and a small chance at that. looks like that's going to repeat tomorrow but it will be cooler on wednesday. thursday and friday partly cloudy, into the mid-80s, still rather humid. looks like it will stay humid in the weekend. chance of thundershowers saturday, partly cloudy sunday and monday. how's the tuesday traffic? >> check out northeast traffic. good morning, e one. so far, so good along kenilworth avenue, here on new york avenue coming over the an toss tia, to bladensburg road, no worries. travel lanes are open. let's look at your speeds. the beltway, headed the opposite direction of what we showed you earlier. this time we'll focus on the inner loop. college park to route 50, 8 minutes. from route 50, john hansen highway headed toward the wilson bridge, 16 minutes. off the wilson bridge to the

i-95/springfield interchange, 7 minutes so far this morning. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. our time now 6:12. we'll have more on breaking news in our newsroom, the death of eunice shriver. the frightening ride for thrill-seekers. they get stuck

we have just learned that eunice kennedy shriver has passed away. she had been hospitalized in critical condition at a cape cod hospital since last week. kimberly suiters joins from us the special olympics headquarters in northwest with more now. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: i just wanted to read a little bit more. it's beautifully written. they say of their mother, eunice kennedy shriver, we have always been honored to share our mother with people of goodwill the world over who believed as she did that there is no limit to the human spirit. here at the special olympics headquarters in washington, d.c., well wishes have been pouring in because eunice kennedy shriver has been ill for quite some time, critically ill in the past few days. her legacy now lives among 3

million special olympics athletes. major legacy of eunice kennedy shriver. let's look back at yesterday. her family was called to her bedside, all her family. her grandchildren, her children, to a hospital in cape cod. eunice kennedy shriver, known for promoting the rights of people with mental and physical disabilities and showcasing their abilities through the special olympics. in the past we, we've talked to washingtonians and other people who remember the early days of the special olympics and how eunice kennedy shriver was not only the founder but the inspiration. >> that was my first introduction to working with children with developmental disabilities, and it impacted me tremendously. mrs. shriver came out every day and worked with the children as well, and she was very inspirational to me. >> our prayers go out to her and at all kennedys at the time of

difficulty. we hope the almighty god gives her the strength to carry on. >> there's no question in my mind, eunice kennedy shriver is as much a hero of every one of these athletes as she is of mine. >> reporter: again, eunice kennedy shriver has died. a family statement came out at 6:00 this morning. another part of the statement that i found touching, the family says her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they, in turn, are her living legacy. eunice kennedy shriver, dead this morning at 88 years old, but leaves behind a legacy worldwide. reporting live in downtown washington, i kimberly suiters. barbara, joe, back to you. >> thanks, kimberly. joe? >> well, clinical trials of the swine flu vaccine are under way at the university of maryland right now. participants rolled up their sleeves yesterday. they'll be returning for blood

samplingself times. researcher are trying to figure out how much vaccine patients will need this fall. >> every medicine we take, somebody before us took a leap of faith and participated in a trial, so that's my part. >> researchers will monitor the adult volunteers for two weeks before they begin doing studies on children. >> turning now to that deadly midairrash out at new york city. divers are searching for the last victim in saturday's accident involving a small plane and a tourist helicopter. divers will return to the hudson river today. they found one man from the plane's wreckage yesterday but they couldn't pull him out. nine people were killed in that ash. photos show the plane's wing was sheared off on impact. 911 calls reveal the panicked moments shortly after the crash. >> you're saying that there's a helicopter down in the water? >> two helicopters just went down in the hudson. >> the helicopter went down into

the water. the plane, i'm not sure what happened to it. i can't see it from my window. >> three family members from pennsylvania, the helicopter pilot and five italian tourists were killed. the plane wreckage was found about 60 feet below the surface of the water, in the middle of the river. ntsb investigators say it's going to take some time to gather it all for inspection. >> some chilling new details surrounding th deadly shooting inside a pennsylvania health club. it turns out the alleged gunman was questioned by police just days earlier. investigators talked with george sodini on july 30th after a man fitting his description was seen showing off what appeared to be a hand grenade on a city bus. when police couldn't positively determine that it was he who had the grenade, they let him go. police say sodini walked into an la fitness center near sbttas lt ttueaysd and shot and killed three women and himself. after the killings, police found writings in sodini's residence indicating that it s,wa indeed -- that he was, indeed,

the man who had that grenade on the bus. >> some thrill seekers got more adventure than they bargained for after they were stranded on a roller coaster for more than four hours. it happened yesterday at the great america theme park in santa clara. the riders were on the roller coaster when it suddenly came to a stop, leaving them up to 80 feet off the ground. rescue crews had to use cherry pickers to rescue about two dozen people. no one was injured. investigators say the roller coaster had a mechanical problem. >> well, with an eight-game winning streak, everything has been going great of late for the nats but now the team has received some bad news. one of their most promising young pitchers will be sidelined. lindsay czarniak has your sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody. your sports minute on this tuesday morning begins with bad news for the nationals. nationals rookie right-hander jordan zimmerman is expected to have season-ending surgery on

his right elbow. the 23-year-old is considered one of the building blocks of the nationals franchise. he will be sidelined at least a year with tommy john surgery to repair that torn ligament. orioles hosting the athletics. kland's mark ellis had a career night with five hits and four rbis. oakland wins big. 9-1. the a's have won nine straight games against the orioles. to redskins news. they're back on the field for two a days this mornin preping for thursday's preseason game against the ravens. the redskins are beginning to see some signs of relief, not really from the heat but from the injury bug. wide receiver devin thas is making progress after being out of practice with a sore hamstring. also, guard randy thomas, who had been sidelined with a sore knee, was also back on the field yesterday. in nascar, tony stewart gets his third win of the season, winning at watkins glen. stewart's seventh road course victory, the sixth at the road course. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day.

>> 6:21 is the time. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we begin with tom kiern in storm center 4 for a look at our forecast. tom? >> barbara, joe, good morning. sunrise over the potomac. here's a live picture now from our city camera. sunrise was three minutes ago. there it is. it's up in a partly cloudy sky on tsdss,ue tay morning. we had a few overnight thundershowers. those have dissipated. right now in the mid-70s in washington, montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties, arlington counties. the weather watchers reporting temperatures in the low and mid-70s and rather humid conditions. these are the dew points, in the upper 60s to near 70. highs today climbing into the low 90s by mid-afternoon. small chance of a passing isolated afternoon or evening thundershower as well as on wednesday. cooler tomorrow, highs mid-80s. remaining humid into the weekend. thursday and friday a small chance of an ilated thundershower. morning lows near 70. afternoon highs mid-80s. here's a look at the weekend, saturday and sunday. highs in the 80s, morning lows near 70. a chance of mainly afternoon or perhaps evening thundershowers

on saturday. partly cloudy, only a small chance of isolated thundershowers on sunday and monday with highs in the mid and upper 80s both of those days. that's the way it looks with the weather. now let's check traffic on this tuesday. how's it looking? >> kicking it into high gear out there. good morning, everyone. volume certainly on the increase around town. the outer loop of the beltway headed toward the american legion bridge. good news, no accidents. inner loop looks okay but again picking up some early morning volume. elsewhere, check things out to the wilson bridge we're okay. b-w parkway at 32 the earlier acdent should be wrapped up. had the accident on gainesville on 66, route 29. that also should be out of the roadway. a lot of that traffic that was held up now in gainesville headed east toward manassas and centreville but all lanes are open. back to you. >> thanks very much. our time is 6:23. a popular music duo is done after spending the last 20 years together. the relse of michael jackson's toxicology reports are delayed again so when might we know the cause of the death of

the pop star? >> but first, here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> in this difficult age of real estate, consumers ask if it's time to refinance? "money" magazine says maybe. first, you'll need a credit sce of 740 or higher and at least 20% equity. so get a copy of your credit score from equifax, shop around for the lowest mortgage rate and put your information into a refinancing worksheet tool found he many financial websites.on ue c"nensw,y. " the money."

this could be a dark day for fans of the country duo brooks & dunn. the group has decided to call it quits after 20 yea together. a message posted on their website that you can see right there reads, "the ride has been everything and more than we could have dreamed. we owe it all to you, the fans." the duo will release a greatest hits album later next month and tour one last time next year. >> the los angeles county coroner's office has completed its investigation into what killed mm-mmm jackson but the details have not been released. a judge approved a major movie

deal between jackson's estate, concert promoter aeg live and columbia pictures. the movie will include footage of jackson's rehearsals for his london tour and videos that were going to be part of that tour. a final cut of the film is due by late october. >> our time is 6:27. the new rules on the rails after a metrkeor wr wasildleor ovhe ndeken and ien in th middle of a popular tattoo parlor in d.c. >> off to a fairly warm start, 75 degrees right now at 6:28. meteorologist tom kierein's going to let us know when it might start to cool down a bit, but the sun isodstay with us. stay with us.

breaking news. eunice shriver died earlier this morning at a massachusetts

hospital at the age of 88. we'll take a look back at her life. good morning, everyone. thanks for waking up with us is morni for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, this 11th day of august 2009. >> we'll begin this half hour with a look not weather and traffic. gorgeous day out there, at least so far. 75 very comfortable days. tom is here now with his forecast. >> yes, mercifully it did cool down last evening. a few passing afternoon and huingerndndowsh t hhaowtave at.iss this morning it's off nt sarttaw.no aplsant start now. 70d-ndls oual mid-70s all aroundhe at hewergion weatherchatar ws poerreg e in rtr lychatpaers are reporting partlyud e ar0sthnid i-7 the shenandoah valley. 75 in washington 0s montgomery, uthern maryland, ndrgties aouar rnhe maryland, around the inpo.tsthe eastern shore.ry ev when hein terts. 70 dihutymi.dimi. they're near 70 now. eastern shore, in the low 70s. . t in the mountains inhe t mid-60s so a pleasant m ixer the lasterth over the last heunthhohode rs h thundershowers have dissipated

and may redevelop again later on this afternoon as we get into the mid to late afternoon and weevgho evurs. mesodla i te isodte thundershowers are possible as a cool front comes in. todayooler thankfully than yesterday, but still pretty hot into the low 90s, still quite humid. inreinmagntum iheid to weekend, but not as hot, in the mo80intos rrda trshutoy and friday. maybe afternoon and evening thundershowers on wednesday. a look at the weekend in ten minutes. that will be coming up at 6:41. >> all right, tom, thank you. >> now let's go back to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. jerry, any problems? >> things have settled down quite a bit actually, joe. good morning, everyone. let's take a live look see how we're doing along 95 and specifically 395. headed up from edsel road toward landmark and shirlington, nothing too much to worry about. a couple of slow spots but that's just volume. earlier problems on 66 have been cleared so at this early hour, traffic is pretty decent. out the bay bridge, there are no worries to report right now. routes 4 and 5 seem to be doing okay. out at the wilson bridge, moving

along between alexandria and oxon hill in fine fashion. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks. >> we are following breaking news out of eunice shriver h eunice shriver has died yhe was surrounded by heram fyil s en she passed away ehiar tly morning at cape cod spho.alit she was 88 yrsea old. spent her championing causes for the disabled. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us from the special olympics headquarters in northwest with more now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. the family of eunice kennedy shriver said she believed there was no limits to the human spirit, and she certainly lived out that belief and that mission through the special olympics which she founded and continued to inspire. we've been here at this special olympics headquarters all morning, and just moments ago, staff members put up this moving photograph of eunice kennedy shriver with some of her beloved olympians. eunice kennedy shriver's saof t,

president of john f. kennedy, the mother of maria shriver, who is married to california governor arnold schwarzenegger was known best for her work with the special olympics, her hands-on work. this morning at 6:00 a.m., the kennedy familyeael rdse a rele ement, an eloquent and thorghme sstteta. te this is a very small portion of it. the family yssa he "s set out ts change the world and to change us. she d that and mo. fsh meunded the movement that cabe special olympics the ca acceptance ment for and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the wod. es work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they, in turn, are her living legacy." nice kennedy shriver wanted promothee t promote the abilities of people with perceived disabilities. did that through the special olympics. at last count, there were more than 3 million special olympics athletes currently participating

and 140 countries involved in the worldwide movement. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. she died this morning at 2:00 a.m. reporting live in downtown at the special olympics hequarters, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. barbara, back to you. >> thanks, kimberly. >> new today, tokyo is cleaning up from a powerful earthquake. 6.6 quake structh shortly after dawn. so far, there no reports of any serious injuries. the quake rattled furniture, walls and shattered windows and roof tiles in older homes. japan stopped running its bullet trains as a precaution. local trains have been shut down for safety checks and nuclear reactors have been closed to check for damage there. this quake comes as japan cleans up from typhoon morakot. the death toll continues to rise from that typhoon. taiwan television says a helicopter crew of three is dead after it crashed during a rescue mission. they were part of a team rescuing people from remote village in taiwan buried in a mudslide.

authorities say there are at least 400 victims of that landslide. 150 have been rescued. so far, about 80 people across the asia pacific area have been killed by typhoon morakot. >> now to a horriing attack in northern virginia. a man is dead after being mauleo pla strea et in lsbureeg onet i eey. a nside they found a man ainnd small dog, bot mo dle to tdede by the two dogs. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from leesburg this morning with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. a relative began to get concerned about the welfare of someone inside the home when they couldn't reach them. they contacted police. when officers went to the house to check things out, that's when they found the body of a 20-year-old man inside. it appears he was mauled to death by dogs. the grisly discovery was made at around 2:00 monday. a 20-year-old man and a small dog, both apparently mauled to

death. running through the home were two pit bulls. >> what made this very difficult was the fact that these animals were there in the house. >> reporter: also found at the home on plaza street, a cocker spaniel furiously barking in a cage. it is unclear if the man who was killed is the owner of some or all the dogs. neighbors say they knew the people who lived in the house had animals, but never saw them running around. >> i live right over there so, i mean, i have nephews. i ve nieces. it's kind of a scary thing. i don't know if i would necessarily blame it on the pit bulls. i think a lot has to do with the ownership. >> my brother's got a pit bull, you know. he says you've got to take special care if you're going to have that kind of an animal. so it's just awful. >> reporter: and the two pit bulls are at the leesburg animal control center. police have not released the name of the man who was killed. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, megan. >> well, police say a woman shot her husband to death inside their tattoo parlor in southeast

washington. they say the woman opened fire yesterday evening inside the liquidity jones tattoo and body art shop. that's near the potomac avenue metro stop. no customers were inside at the time of the shooting and no word on a motive behind the shooting. >> metro is suspending all track work after a repairman was hit and killed by a piece of equipment. veteran worker michaelat nash w killed on sunday night at the vienna station on the orange line. aha a ro's general manager has safety standown. for the next three days, there will be neor mor track maintenance but there wil be additional safety checks at work sites. the time right now 6:38. gm's big gamble. how the troubled auto giant is teaming up with ebay to sell new cars. and secretary of state hillary clinton's temper flares when a student asks a question about her husband, former president bill clinton. >> a dog in d.c. makes it out alive after being stuffed in a

weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning at 6:41. partly cloudy. we're in the low and mid-70s around this region. afternoon highs into the low 90s. might have an isolated passing thundershower from mid-afternoon all the way into this evening. then tomorrow cooler, morning

lows near 70. highs in the mid-80s. maybe a morning shower or passing afternoon thundershower, just a small chance. remaining humid all the way into the weekend. thursday and friday into the mid-80s and partly cloudy and a very small chance of isolated thundershowers both of those days. over the weekend, might get some passing thundershowers on saturday, then partly cloudy sunday and monday, highs in th 80s each day. i'm back in ten minute was another update. jerry, good morning. how's the traffic? >> hey, tom, check out 270 and sh you that things are still moving along pretty well off and on. minimal delays at this hour as you head out of frederick to german toung, down here toward the split. should find the lanes open here. hopefully that guy will get back in the travel lane, get off the shoulder. drive where you're supposed to, pal. elsewhere, making the trip south of town, inner loop at st. barnabas road, had reports of a vehicle fire. a couple lanes reportedly closed there. beltway from springfield to 66 is fine as is the top side from college park all the way to silver spring. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry.

>> thank you very much. >> our time right now is 6:42. we'll of more on the breaking news into our newsroom, the death of eunice river. and a d.c. dog's amazing story of survival. how he was able to make it out alive after being wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown in the trash. re flowing b g

reaking news tins morning. ithosphras s her inen k.dydiiva al.ho ts takot aook b lk at at her life and her legacy. >> reporter: a beloved member of the kennedy family, eunice kennedy shriver wore the family mantel of public service, largely out of the public eye. unlike her siblings and political brothers, john, bobby and ted. of the nine chilen of joe and rose kennedy, shriver's life's work was inspired by another sibling, rosemary who was born mentally retarded. shriver founded the special olympics in 1968, inviting people with mental disabilities in 130 countries to showcase

their abilities. >> each time you run and jump, you will say to others everywhere, come to our world where we are free, free to choose our sport. >> reporter: her husband, sergeant shriver, co-founded the peace corps and ran for vice president with george mcgovern in 1972. shriver's daughter, maria, was an nbc news correspondent. her son-in-law, former actor arnold schwarzenegger, is governor of california. taking her own turn in the media, shriver produced a television special on religious faith, binding the kennedys through generations, focusing on the story of mary and,on hor . un eoesyokind of lesson, for young people to say, i, too, if i have faith, i can change the world. i think they can. >> reporter: now for the wider kennedy clan bound by political fortunes and heartache, another time to turn to prayer and each other. tracie potts, nbc news, washington.

>> well, president obama is retooling his pitch for health care reform. today he will host a town hall meeting in new hampshire and things could get pretty boisterous. this new pitch is aimed at people who are already -- have health insurance. the health care issue has already sparked heated debates around the country. president obama has called the debates healthy, but opponents say it's a sign of widespread public dissatisfaction with his ideas. >> what this country desperately needs is a real, honest discussion about what the problem is. we're going broke on health care. >> people who are protesting are the taxpayers who are thinking, wait a minute. we have to pay for all this. maybe we need to slow down. >> the president says he's confident that despite the heated debate, reform will happen this fall. >> well, a student apparently messed with the wrong clinton. hillary clinton got testy with a student for asking what her husband thought about international affairs. she was in congo yesterday

taking questions from university students. one of them asked about the world bank. speaking in french, the official state department translation went like this. what does mr. clinton think through the mouth of mrs. clinton? the secretary of state w not pleased. >> wait. you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. so you ask my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling my husband. >> afterwards, the student said he meant to ask about president obama's thoughts, not former president's clinton's. it's unclear in the student made the mistake or if the translator did. house democrats say they don't need new jets to ferry them around after all. democratic leaders wanted four passenger jets to fly around senior government officials. two would be the c-37 which is the military equivalent of the gulf stream 550. democrats added hundreds of millions of dollars to the air force's budget to pay for these,

even though the pentagon didn't request the money. now democric leaders say they'll drop the plan to buy the aircraft if the pentagon does not want them. >> well, wall street will try to rebound from a down day and facebook adds a new friend. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live with today's business headlines. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, joe. futures right now slightly lower. we've lost a little bit of steam this morning. investors beginning the waiting game because the fed kicks off a two-day meeting today. the central bank, though, isn't expected to do anying with interest rates. however, it may signal a retreat from some of its efforts to prop up the financial system so this time it's all in the language. asian markets did close higher overnight, following positive data out of china. europe also higher. we'll get a report this morning that could show the biggest jump in worker productivity in nearly two years. so in other words, companies may still be shedding jobs but they're also wringing out more from their remaining employees. the dow's at 9337 after falling

32 points monday. the nasdaq slipped 8 points to 199. facebook reportedly failed in its efforts to buy twitter last year so it's going to do the next best thing, snapping up a twitter-like website. friendfeed.com. it was started by ex-google engineers. it's a micro blogging service that allows users to share status updates and online content in realtime. we'll see if that's the next big thing. back to you. >> oh, man. thank you. thanks very much, courtney. >> reporter: thank you. >> have a great day. general motors is re-inventing itself. beginning today, they're selling cars on ebay. buyers can place online bids for new vehicles at gm.ebay.com. gm is trying to reach younger buyers by going online. the trial gm ebay site will be available through the 8th of september. >> we're finding jobs 4 u. or sanford brown institute is looking for a career service to. s ogprms for adults.training in e

ogth ceree services adviser hes graduates find jobs and also provides resume helpnd practice with interviewing skills. for more jobs, visit nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> d.c. police are trying to figure out who beat a dog and then left it for dead in a dumpster. authorities say a man found the dog, now known as trouper for her valiant spirit on friday. he called the humane society who found the dog wrapped in a trash bag that was ducks-taped to her body. she s rushed to friendship hospital for animals. trouper is recovering, and doctors hope to find a loving home for her once she's healed. >> as loving and affectionate as she is, she's obviously a wonderful dog and i think that will help her a lot with her healing. >> doctors say ms. trouper may need at least one more surgery. the washington humane society is offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to an arrest

of those responsible for the attack. >> that's sad. >> terrible. to look at that face. >> another hot day but not nearly as hot as yesterday? >> thankfully. we had our really one scorching summer day yesterday, and that's it. this is a little heat wave, only lasting three days. this is the last of it because we leave is on the way. there's the view of our city camera overlooking the potomac river of our sunrise now. eastern horizon, sun's up in a 75 w non ishwaonin humid. in washington.rhu mid. goaw. pe rigege'sord-,n inc rig nt cmomery ieou montgomery counties. s watchers reporting temperatus.s re watchers reporting temperas. eastidnior ms. a wethoue.r atrchhe ,nrgweather watch o iar md anyla shenandoah valley reporting temperatures in he t 7lo0swlons tshihiuesdaysd morn, the 11th day of august. now a look at the dew points. whenever they're in the upper 60s to near 70 that is steamy humidity. that's where we are on this tuesday morning. temperatures on the eastern

shore now the low 70s. it's going to be a hot day at the beaches. it's in the upper 70s southeastern virginia around the outer banks and southern virginia, carolinas. mid-60s in the mountains of western maryland. into west virginia, weather watchers reporting there. over the last six hours we did have a few evening showers that have dissipated, got a few light showers out in western pennsylvania. those wi pass to our north this morning. that's out ahead of a cool front that's going to be developing and coming our way here by the afternoon. right now just now moving into the ohio valley. out ahead of that, we still have the humidity sweeping in. this front, all it's going to do is shift the wind direction. that's about it. bring somewhat cooler temperatures but it's really not going to get much less humid as ay get into the rest of the week. so for today, sunshine this morning. by 9:00 near 80. by noontime the mid and u pper 80s. l0s by peak in theow 9 mid-afternoon. about five, six, seven degrees cooler than yesterday. a hot afternoon and uncomfortablhumid. a small chance, about a 30% chance of a passing thundershower. earlier in the mountains,

perhaps around noontime. the metro area, 3:00 p..m to 11:00 p.m., chance of a passing thundershower. otherwise, clouds rolling through. the winds will shift and down .nto the low 70s tomorrow morning. artly cloudy and coole tomorrow but still humid. highs in the m m-80s. maybe a morning shower or afternoon thundershower, small cecef othat. just a very small chancf e on thursday and friday. still humid, highs in the s.mi80d- weekend looking rather humid but ins hehi 80s. maybe some thundershowers on saturday. that's the way it looks on this tuesday morning. >> thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. jerry? >> good morning. start with the beltway south of town. the outer loop into the sunshine now, loading up from van dorn street headed over toward telegraph road. that was the scene of an earlier accident. so typically heavy and slow. two lanes to the left, one to the right will get you through. elsewhere on the beltway and objection onhill, inner loop near route 414, st. barnabas road, authorities dealing with a vehicle fire stopping all traffic from time to time. if you're traveling that direction, inner loop through

objection onhill toward the wilson bridge, heads-up for that. back to you. >> thank you very much. we are following breaking news out ofmassachusetts.hu eunice shriver has died. asese p daway early this morning at cap cod hospital with her family by her side. r,veri a long-time champion of thdi sabled, founded the special olympics. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us from the special olympics headquarters in northwest washington and has more for us now. kimberly? >> reporter: barbara, eunice kennedy shriver said there is no limito the human spirit. her second family here at special olympics is mourning thisorning. we're joined by christian seckler. how did you hear the news? >> i got a call from tim shriver. >> reporter: what's going through your heart and mind this morning? >> my heart's aching. i knew mrs. shriver. all of us our morniurning her l and celebrating her life. she's an amazing woman. we want to continue her dream

and her vision and we hope the world will help us do that. >> reporter: how can people do that? >> visit eunicekennedyshriver.org. join our movement. >> reporter: eunice kennedy shriver leaving behind a living legacy of 3 million special olympics athletes, nearly 140 countries participating in this worldwide movement. eunice kennedy shriver passed away this morning at 2:00 a.m. she was 88 years old. reporting live at the special olympics headquarters in downtown washington, d.c., i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. back to you. >> thank you. >> today's news 4 morning person is simply asa ray of sunshine, e 'r.weldto tonya is the ownf o youth visions fitness ctern i upper marlboro,.ryland every day she shows up with a positive attitude and is alway very polite and selfless and works to we're told. if you know someone like to nya, e-mail that person's story and a clear, close-up picture or video

to moerrngpnbinn@hisoascwngton.coms that is "news 4 today." daank you for starting your esthtuwi y s. u tuesday with us. you'll joins later da "tor 4fowsdaneidt m a y" uwaitpkesh w t u11:0 wake up with us tomorrow morning. start at 4:55 a.m. and we'll all be here. >> bye.